


And if You Close Your Eyes

by urbaninja



Series: Everyone Lives [6]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen, Season 12 spoilers, everyone lives au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2196615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urbaninja/pseuds/urbaninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Project Freelancer collapses and new opportunities arise, Agent North Dakota finds himself alone for the first time in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And if You Close Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> North's turn for an Everyone Lives fic. Deviates from the norm in that we're aligning with canon somewhat. But trust me, this all comes together eventually.
> 
> Lyrics from Pompeii by Bastille.

_And if you close your eyes  
Does it feel like nothing’s changed at all?_

_How am I going to be an optimist about this?_

**

North wakes up in a quiet room that is not where he was before. 

He wakes with a start and looks around confused and calls for Theta but the AI does not appear and North knows in that moment that he is alone. He’s afraid, and he can’t recall the last time he’s felt like this. 

He doesn’t like being alone.

Thankfully it doesn’t last long. His bed has been quartered off by sheets and they part to reveal the Counselor.

“Agent North,” the Counselor says in his smooth, calming voice, “It’s good to see you awake. We were quite worried about you.”

North nods.

“Counselor. Can you tell me what’s been going on? How did I get here?” 

“You and your sister were attacked by an entity we are calling the Meta. We don’t know exactly who the Meta is, but they are after the AI units and armour enhancements. Unfortunately, in your encounter with the Meta, you were injured and it took the Theta AI from you. I am sorry about that.”

North manages another nod, and swallows. He feels guilty. He promised Theta he’d look after him but he failed in that and Theta must be terrified right now. He moves to get out of the bed but the Counselor stops him.

“Agent North, your injuries have not healed and I ask that you stay in bed. Agent South and Agent Washington are currently on the Meta’s trail. They will do the best they can. For now, can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

South and Wash are on the case. That puts North’s mind at ease. Hopefully, they’ll be able to work together, it’s happened before once or twice, and Wash will be able to look after Theta. Theta knows he can trust Wash.

“I feel fine, I guess. A little stiff, but not any pain,” North answers, leaning back onto the pillow. “It’s just…it’s really quiet. Without Theta. Even with the beeping of the machines and stuff, it’s still really quiet.”

The Counselor nods and smiles, making a note on his data pad. 

“Please continue to rest, Agent North. I will be back later to talk with you some more. You’ve survived a harrowing experience after all.”

**

North recovers. 

He asks constantly for any news of South, of Wash, of what’s been going on with the Project. The Counselor doesn’t really say anything, dismissing or avoiding the questions. All North knows is that he hasn’t heard from anyone in days, and this Meta-thing can’t be too hard to track, can it?

He worries, and it’s about all he can do. 

He recovers and trains, trying to get his body back to peak condition so that he can go out after them, but the Counselor says that he needs to stay put, and that someone needs to play defense. He doesn’t hear a thing from the Director.

North learns that he doesn’t handle being alone very well. He’s always had someone around, his parents, South, York and Wash, Theta. He doesn’t like being alone.

It’s too quiet.

**

He’s kept on standby. 

The Counselor doesn’t tell him anything and he hasn’t seen the Director in a long time. He’s left to wander the halls, train, have short conversations and bland card games with the other soldiers. He’s eager to do something but there’s nothing happening. 

He asks if he can go help Wash on his mission. The Counselor denies it, saying that Agent Washington has all the help he needs. There’s something in the way the Counselor says that that makes North both doubtful and worried.

**

The investigations start.

North doesn’t know what’s happening at first since no one passed along the memo. The days are all blending into one and it suddenly occurs to him that it’s been a long time since he’s seen the Counselor. And then there are people from the Oversight Committee showing up and asking questions and North doesn’t know what to make of that.

They ask him questions and he answers as honestly as he can. He’s not sure if it’s a good thing that he does, but at the same time, no one’s told him otherwise. 

He’s running through a training mission when the ruckus starts. He was practicing a simulated stealth mission when all of a sudden the blue team glitches out and is replaced by error messages. He tries to figure out what’s going on when the siren starts up that they’re under attack. He tries to restore order among the solders but instead there’s chaos and he sees a shimmer go by and a flash of grey armor.

He tries to investigate because grey armor means Wash but instead there’s an EMP blast and he’s knocked out.

**

When he wakes up, he finds UNSC soldiers staring down at him. Once they verify that he’s awake and in one piece, he’s taken to the commander of the squad. He’s told that there was an EMP that wiped out everything on the base, including the computer records. Work is being done to recover what data they can, if anything, but for the moment, it’s as if Project Freelancer never existed. He’s asked to remain with the squad in the event they need to question him, and notified that the Chairman of the Oversight Committee wishes to see him.

North agrees, feeling he has no choice, and stares out at the darkened base. 

It feels weird to be the only Freelancer witnessing the fall of the Project.

**

North is questioned and re-questioned and he answers as honestly as he can, telling them everything he knows until finally they give up.

The Chairman thanks him for his honesty and tells him he’s been re-assigned. North is confused at first but the Chairman explains that the Oversight Committee has absorbed Project Freelancer, placing its soldiers under his jurisdiction.

North learns he’s being transferred to Chorus, a planet on the edge of colonized space. The Current Government has been embroiled in a civil war with rebel forces and has been requesting aid. The Chairman figures that one Freelancer should be enough to help with the effort, considering they already have another on hand.

North wants to explain that he’s nothing special, not without Theta, not without his Sister, but then he remembers that he’s alone. He has no choice but to accept

**

Despite where it sits in space, Chorus sounds like an interesting planet. It has a wide range of environments and seems fairly rich in resources. Really the only downside is it’s location, which has caused it to be ignored for the most part. 

He lands on the planet and finds a group of people waiting for him. He’s introduced to the Brigadier and his secretary, a man named Donald Doyle. For some reason, Doyle makes more of an impression on him, perhaps because the Brigadier has to run off shortly after to attend a meeting.

It’s from Doyle that North learns more about the civil war and the situation. No one really remembers how it started, aside from the fact that neither side is willing to listen or compromise. There was a tentative stalemate until the New Republic started resorting to acts of terrorism and since then it’s only escalated. North can’t say he’s fond of the situation, but he doesn’t mind Doyle. He’s vaguely reminded of Wyoming, but he suspects that mostly because of the accent. 

“You must know, Agent, that you’re the second freelancer we’ve had to hire to stop this dratted conflict,” Doyle says, as he leads North to his quarters.

“You can just call me Nathan,” Nathan replies, before pausing. “The second freelancer…” He holds his breath for a moment. Could some other freelancer have made their way out here somehow?”

And the Nathan meets him.

**

Locus is quiet. 

He’s quiet in the way that Maine was quiet before a mission, but it’s constant. There’s no standing down for him, no at ease. He’s always on, and Nathan finds that unnerving. At least Maine knew how to relax.

He tries to be friendly, but Locus brushes him off in the name of professionalism. He’s not here to make friends or be buddies. He’s here to perform a mission, and that as a fellow freelancer, Agent North Dakota should do the same.

Nathan wants to say that he’s not North Dakota anymore, that the project is over and he’s just Nathan Reilly, unintended freelancer, but something tells him that Locus just wouldn’t understand. 

Instead, he falls in line and tries to choose missions where he and the other merc aren’t working too closely together.

More than ever he misses his friends, and in the quiet nights on Chorus, made doubly so by the lack of his AI, he curls up into a ball and jams his head under the pillow in a desperate attempt to block out the silence. It won’t let him focus on the memories.

**

Memories are all he really has left.

He does his best to remember the good things. Card games with Wash and York, training and doing missions with his sister where they worked so well as a team, those times when they were in an area of space not near anything and had to fight to get even just the score of a Grifball game.

In the chatter of the messhall, he can close his eyes and remember those mealtimes and it’s like nothing’s changed. But he has to open his eyes again and get on with reality. 

He tries to stay positive, keep his head above the water, but even that is growing difficult.

He hates being alone.

**

Chorus is in rough shape.

The civil war has been going on for as long as anyone could remember, and shows no signs of stopping. Remarkably the planet hasn’t been ravaged but there are those who think it’s only a matter of time.

Nathan is shocked at the Federation army, which seems to be split into two camps: the veterans who have survived this long and rookies who just recently signed up, desperate for their chance to help their planet. 

Nathan finds himself training the rookies, while Locus is off running missions. He doesn’t mind. The kids are personable at least, though it’s hard to forget that they are pretty much just kids.

He’s on Chorus a couple months when the Brigadier is killed in an attack by the New Republic. Doyle suddenly finds himself in charge. Nathan tries his best to keep everyone calm but can’t ignore the doubts that are circulating the camp. Doyle isn’t a soldier. He relies on Locus and Nathan.

If Nathan learns anything on Chorus it’s that things can change quickly. 

In a way it’s not that different from Freelancer.

**

Nathan has been on Chorus for several months, almost a year when the ship crashes. Rumours begin to circulate that it had some of the galaxy’s greatest heroes on it, and there’s a rush to find the resources to rescue them because they can help win the war. 

Nathan has been hearing the rumours about these heroes since he arrived. He’s never really believed them because they’re just that, rumors. The fact that they took down Project Freelancer, or at least the last vestiges of it, seems too unreal. Nathan had always blamed bureaucracy and the Oversight Committee.

At least, that is until Locus brings back the prisoners. He’s not there when they arrive or when Doyle debriefs them, but later he’s asked to show them around base. Nathan agrees, hoping to find out the truth of these rumors.

Instead, he finds someone he thought was dead.

He had ever intention of introducing himself when he walked into the room, but instead the words caught in his throat the moment he laid eyes on a familiar set of grey and yellow armor. 

Agent Washington stares back and North has no doubt that the expression behind his visor mirrors his own. He doesn’t know what to say and everything he comes up with sounds dumb. 

“North?” Wash says, finally, and he’s about to respond because that is Wash, even though his voice sounds tired and older, but Wash continues. “Sorry, I thought you were an old friend of mine, but—“

“It’s me, Wash,” North cuts him off, finally finding his voice. “It’s, uh, it’s been a while, huh?” 

“What?” “Que?” This time it’s a chorus of four voices, as North becomes aware that there are others in the room.

“I thought you were dead,” Wash adds. 

“Same here, actually. It’s a bit of a long story, if you’ve got time.”

The tour’s going to have to wait.

**

With Wash around, things almost seem easier. 

It’s a great relief to know that he’s not alone. That he’s not the only one left. And that all of a sudden, he has a friend on Chorus. One that he can freely trust and it’s a good feeling. North hadn’t realized how much he needed someone like that in his life. 

He feels braver than he has in a long time. 

Wash’s tale is nothing short of incredible. And it only dawns on both of them how close they were to each other before being separated. 

Wash has changed. He’s older now, and tired. He’s not the fresh faced rookie from North’s happier memories of Freelancer. It’s hard for North to remember that sometimes, but that’s more because he’s spent a lot of time dwelling on the past. But Wash is still Wash. 

It’s funny watching him play the leader when North is used to seeing Wash as the follower. His companions, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez, are wary of him at first. Considering the freelancers they met, North can’t say he’s all that surprised. Still, he tries to be friendly. Donut takes to him immediately, and Sarge even grudgingly admits that North might be okay if he’s a friend of Wash’s. 

But he doesn’t trust purple armor. It’s a mix of Red and Blue and that’s not something he can ever agree with. Especially since it’s more Blue than Red. North is confused but Wash tells him to just roll with it. 

And so he does. 

**

Doyle insists on keeping Wash and his companions at the base while North heads out on missions. He doesn’t mind, since he knows now that he’ll have friends to return to. 

It’s just a simple recon mission, to determine what happened to a base that blew up not too long ago. If the New Republic blew it up, they probably won’t be back to investigate. Really they’re just going to see if anything is salvageable. 

He’s walking by himself when he catches a small, but unmistakable, flash out of the corner of his eye and turns sharply. His motion trackers are going off and there’s a retreating figure who’s blending into the foliage in an all too familiar way.

North barks out that he’ll be back and takes off in pursuit because there is no way this can be happening. He sees the figure raising an odd grenade and he slams to a stop, shooting it out of their hand. 

The camouflage is down, and there’s a gun in his face but the aqua…teal…cyan…armor just makes him smile and lower his weapon. The figure follows suit and they stare at each other for a long while.

“Hey Boss,” North finally manages. “Long time no see.”

**

Carolina is dumbfounded. 

After North’s greeting, all they can do is stare at each other, trying to find the right words. It’s Epsilon who breaks the silence, flashing into existence to remind Carolina that they don’t have much time.

North is confused, because Carolina has an AI and that didn’t work out for her last time. Not to mention it’s Epsilon, who doesn’t have the best track record. He starts to question it, but Carolina stops him, and promises she’ll explain later. 

She gives him a secure channel to contact her on, and he nods, saying that they will.

There’s a flash of the grenade, and when his squad catches up to him, he lies and says she got away.

A small part of him says he shouldn’t just jump into this, and to be more wary, but he’s so desperate to trust again that he ignores it.

**

Carolina contacts him a few days later. 

North checks and rechecks that the channel is secure, and has managed to work a solo patrol shift, to further isolate himself. He doesn’t need anyone catching him talking on the radio.

If nothing else, the conversation confirms his reasons to dislike Locus, and he’s more than willing to assist Carolina in any way that he can. It means leaving the Federation for a short time, but North justifies in by reminding himself that this will ultimately help the Federation. And the New Republic. As much as he considers himself an outsider, there are still people that he likes and respects, and they don’t deserve what Locus is planning for them. 

It’s times like these that he wishes he still had Theta. Despite his timid nature, Theta could be rather insightful, and having a second opinion has never been a bad thing. It makes him miss South as well. She would have had something to say about this. 

Carolina wakes North from his thoughts, asking about the Reds and Blues. North is quick to tell her about Wash, and is surprised to learn that she already knew he was alive. He wants to hear the whole story, but there’s not a lot of time and he has to swallow his questions. He’ll interrogate the both of them later. He informs her of their plan to go after their friends who are with the New Republic, and Carolina takes it all in before giving North a set of coordinates. 

“That’s been our base of operations,” she explains. “Meet us there as soon as you can. I think things are going to start escalating around here very quickly.”

“Roger that, Boss,” North replies, and is about to end the conversation when Carolina speaks again.

“North. It’s good that you’re alive.” There’s a warmth in Carolina’s voice that North hasn’t heard in years. 

“Yeah. You to, Carolina.” 

**

He borrows a warthog from the motorpool, saying that he found documents that Doyle had forgotten, and he needs to take them up to the Capital. The lie is bought and he sets out. There’s a feeling of guilt in his chest, but he reminds himself that this will help change things on Chorus, and hopefully he’ll be able to return the warthog eventually. 

He drives as far as he can, before hiding the warthog in the jungle and continuing on foot. He’s careful to make sure his tracks are covered, but there’s been no sign of Locus or anyone else. North is not sure if that’s a good thing or not. 

He arrives at the camp in time to see a teal…cyan…aqua soldier fall through Epsilon’s hologram, and decides to hang back while the situation sorts itself out. Dr. Grey notices him first, rushing over to talk to him, almost as if she was expecting him. He’s told about what happened at the base, and feels terrible for leaving them behind. He could have helped, and maybe more people could have been saved.

“It would have been the same, even if you were there,” Wash says, coming over. “They were determined.”

“Yeah, but…” North wants to protest but can’t find the words. He feels powerless again, like he’s trapped in a river on a course that will inevitably go over a waterfall. 

“North, it was lucky Carolina showed up when she did. Otherwise, we probably would have died to. And now we’re here, and we can do something about this. Isn’t that why you’re here to?”

North nods. “Yeah, it is.”

Wash sighs, giving an odd laugh. “You know. I can’t believe I’m the one saying this now, but, you’re not alone. I guess between you, me, Carolina, and the Reds and Blues, we’re a team again. And I’ve been with it long enough to believe that we just might manage something.”

A team. It’s been a long time since he was on one of those. But there’s something in the way Wash says it that makes North want to believe him. 

He’s just glad he’s no longer alone.


End file.
